CANADIAN PIANIST ALAN FRASER

Some technically brilliant pianists seem unemotional while a sensitive pianist may lack dexterity – but might mechanics and musicianship be two sides of the same coin? Might "technique vs. musicianship" be a false dichotomy?

MOVEMENT MAKES MUSIC

Moshe Feldenkrais, source of many of the institute’s key ideas, said that “life is movement. Life without movement is unthinkable.” Similarly, musical life without movement is unthinkable. Studying the physical aspect of musical inflection and the musical aspect of physical gesture, one sees that at the piano, everything you do, sounds. A block to movement anywhere in the body, from the fingertip to the hip joints and beyond, has a negative effect on the sound.

CHOREOGRAPHY REPLACES RELAXATION

Relaxing to unlock the block is ineffective, because relaxation is not an act – it is inert; there is no movement. Instead, we choreograph every musical idea, bring every musical gesture to physical life to unlock the body naturally. Physical tension dissolves when movement reflects a clear musical intention.

A FUNCTIONAL HAND IS A POTENT HAND

The institute analyzes and resolves movement anomalies that often crop up in the developing pianist.

• The hand seen as a mini-body learns lying down, standing up, walking, running, hopping and leaping on key just as an infant would – easily, developmentally.

• The weighted touch is mitigated by the anti-gravity function – the hand’s natural capacity (inherent in the grasping action) to carry the full weight of the arm effortlessly, elegantly on key.

• The thumb, the pianist’s “ugly duckling,” opposes itself to the fingers to empower the hand, increase strength and sensitivity, and create a multi-coloured musical expression.

• Phrases are shaped with lateral arm movements, neutralizing the negative ramifications of a vertical, overly weighted approach.

THE EAR IS PHYSICAL, TOO

Many insist that the ear must reign supreme, that physical concerns distract one from the music. This approach actually uses the physical to reconnect the pianist to their musical self. Increased physical awareness makes one more capable, more in command, more able to fulfill ones musical goals, and more able to hear.

INSTITUTE BROCHURE

Acquaint yourself further with Piano Somatics by reading our brochure.

• View the brochure here.

• Print copies of the brochure will be sent upon request.

• Download the brochure to share with your colleagues.

• Best viewed in Adobe 2-page format

Participants said

"Alan showed me how to develop more power, more colour, more expression than I thought possible. Now I can simply do things at the piano I previously only dreamed of."
John Tittmann, M.Mus SUNY Potsdam
"This teaching is truly revolutionary; this one week changed my sound and changed my life! I am now playing consistently pain-free for the first time in years."

Aurelien Boccard, doctoral student in piano, University of Kansas
"These lessons will sustain you for a lifetime. We worked, laughed, bonded and came away with a whole new world of physicality and sound."
Sue Hammond, pianist, author and creator of "Beethoven Lives Upstairs"
"Alan took the strengths of the Russian school and used them to give me real strength. His work with the whole body made my fingers spring into new life, as if by magic."

Irina Saygina, pianist and teacher, Portland, Oregon
"My teaching has been totally transformed. As I try out ideas from the Institute with my young pupils, their hands are waking up and starting to run and dance on the keyboard in a totally new way."

Christine Olson, pianist and teacher, Northampton, MA
"I've never seen a more nurturing teacher. He offers all the knowledge, caring, encouragement, support and dedication a student needs to reach a new high in his or her playing."

Christina Biron, Smith Institute Graduate

Institute Info

The Piano Somatics Institute takes place in several European countries through the winter,
and in North America over the summer months.

Piano Somatics

The rationale underpinning
somatic piano technique.
Piano Kinematics

A schematic diagram outlining the scope of Piano Somatics.
Arm Weight

Enhancing weight technique with the anti-gravity function.
Certification

Become a Certified
Piano Somatics Practitioner.

Piano Somatics Institute Administrative Team

Creator

of the Institute

Alan Fraser Institute General Director

Forging a new approach to piano technique since the 1970's, Alan Fraser is still researching these questions in depth, bringing new material and insights to the Institute each successive year.
Suzuki

rocks

Kathlen Carels Onsite Coordinator, Miami University

Kathleen first found Alan online by Googling "Piano & Feldenkrais." She quickly signed up for one of the first Pianimals Online courses during the pandemic, and soon came to the conclusion that if she were ever going to have an in-person lesson with Alan, she would have to organize an institute in Oxford, Ohio, her home town. She says that it was well worth all the adminstrative and communicative effort: Miami U is now the flagship summer institute in N. America, and Kathleen's piano skills are progressing by leaps and bounds.
À la recherche

du son perdu

Yveline Ciazynski Director of Operations, France

Yveline first discovered Alan Fraser in 2010, and quickly came to believe that his teaching represents an "epistemological rupture" with previous schools. She has translated three of his books (Honing the Pianist Self-Image, All Thumbs, and Play Piano with the Whole Self) into French (Editions Delatour), and her indefatigable efforts to spread Alan Fraser's teaching in France have led to editions of his institute springing up in Paris and numerous other local centers throughout the country.
Arches

reign supreme

Kathryn Southworth-Lundahl Onsite Coordinator, Concord New Hampshire

Kathy is Dean of Students and Faculty at the Concord Community Music School, and has an active career accompanying, teaching, and playing the organ in church on Sunday mornings. She has been attending the Piano Somatics Institute since 2012, and immediately noticed the impact Alan Fraser's teaching had on her own playing. She was quick to arrange for him to open a branch of the Institute in Concord, New Hampshire.
Skeletal

Music

Mirka Mauck Onsite Coordinator, Hamm, Ruhr Valley, Germany

Like Alan, Mirka is a concert pianist, pedagogue and Feldenkrais practitioner as well. She has collaborated with Alan for almost twenty years, inviting him to teach in her studio in Hamm and also conducting a long-standing exchange in Functional Integration. She performs in a duo with Takako Oishi.
die ganze Selbst

klingt besser

Mario de la Vega Onsite Coordinator, Munich, Germany

Mario first met Alan after Googling Feldenkrais & piano, and has studied piano with him since 2011. He becamse a Feldenkrais practitioner due to Alan's influence, and is one of the main proponents of Piano Somatics in Germany. He adminsters the Munich Institute at the Arte Tonal Music School twice a year.
For my

students as well

Christine Olson Onsite Coordinator, U Mass

It was Christine's influence that first brought the Piano Somatics Institute into being. She came down to New York City for a lesson with Alan in 2009, they got to talking, and the first institute at Smith College in 2011 was the result. Christine does a stellar job of coordinating every detail of the U Mass Institute, and maintains a thriving teaching practice at her home studio on Forbes Avenue in Northampton through the year. She is an Alexander Technique teacher who gets excited at the multiple possibilities for "cross-fertilization" between Alexander, Feldenkrais Method and Alan's Craft of Piano Method. She finds her teaching has not so much improved as transformed her students' playing since she began working with Alan.